Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz Thursday said the government is reviewing the national textile strategy to make it more viable, competitive and sustainable.

The government will take all steps to help the industry improve its position in the global trade and to avail opportunities of the quota free environment, Aziz said while chairing the second meeting of the National Textile Strategy Committee held here.

He said textile is the backbone of the industry, contributing 66 percent to the country's exports, 40 percent to employment and 8.5 percent to the gross domestic product (GDP).

Aziz said that all out efforts need to be made to attract foreign capital in the textile sector to bring it at par with other sectors of the economy that brought in a record high of 3.8 billion U.S. dollars in foreign direct investment (FDI) last year.

The prime minister said improved productivity, competitiveness and reduced cost of production are key to achieving the textile export target and the government will facilitate the private sector meet it.

Emphasizing the need to retool and reform the industry in keeping with the best management practices, he said, the government is also making focused efforts to improve the infrastructure and the logistics chain in order to lower the cost of production.

The prime minister said the government is also taking various measures to increase the production of cotton through introduction of better seeds.

He said the government will continue to take steps to further develop the textile sector by focusing on bridging the skills gap, promoting research and development activities, facilitating increase in the number of woman employees, outsourcing of specialized work and simplification of procedures.

Source: Xinhua